[SDCBC] SD Police: "You need to be in the bike lane"

[John Eldon]

The next time that particular officer sees Serge riding anywhere but in the
gutter, I fully expect him to issue a traffic citation for "obstructing
traffic." This is why we so desperately need to educate law enforcement.

John E.
  -----Original Message-----
  From: sdcbc-bounces at bikesandiego.org
[mailto:sdcbc-bounces at bikesandiego.org]On Behalf Of JonIsaacs at aol.com
  Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 1:04 PM
  To: sdcbc at bikesandiego.org
  Subject: Re: [SDCBC] SD Police: "You need to be in the bike lane"



  Hello to all... Here's my thinking...


  Educating cyclists is the most important thing we can due simply because
an educated cyclist has to the tools to ride safely in the real world, the
world where enforcers are confused and motorists are not aware of proper
etiquette in the presence of cyclists.

  Educating law enforcement as well as the general driving public is a
worthy dream but it does not give uneducated cyclists the tools to ride in a
safe and sane manner, they are still vulnerable because of their ignorance.
Currently motorists deal with cyclists from a pragmatic viewpoint, they
assume cyclists are going to run stop signs and stoplights, ride the wrong
way, do all the things we see so frequently...

  Serge's incident was a non incident because Serge has taken the time to
learn proper riding techniques. This meant that when he was confronted with
uneducated police officers he was able to address the issue properly and
continue to ride as he has, positioning himself properly in the lane.  So,
rather than being a story about a cyclist tangling with a car because of
improper lane positioning, it is an interesting story about Serge taking a
moment to educate a couple of officers...

  So, yes it would be nice to train law enforcement officers.  If the
enforcers understood the importance of proper lane position and riding in a
law abiding manner, they just might be more interested in enforcing the laws
so that people on bicycles would be much more likely to abide by the rules
of the road...  But for my money, I think the first step give cyclists the
tools they need to ride properly...

  Jon









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